Francesca Kirby (born 29 June 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Women's Super League club Brighton & Hove Albion and the England national team.

[10] At a young age, her mother, Denise, wrote in a birthday card that Fran would play in a World Cup one day: she was her biggest supporter.

She made her debut for the first team at the age of sixteen but quit football the following year after an onset of depression, brought about by the death of her mother.

[15][16] Kirby returned to the club in 2012 and went on to become the FA Women's Premier League Southern Division's top scorer for the 2012–13 season, with 32 goals in 21 appearances.

[17] With Reading promoted to the newly formed Women's Super League 2 for 2014, Kirby helped the team achieve third place with 24 goals in sixteen appearances.

[18] She ended the season as the league's top goalscorer; netting four against London Bees,[19] as well as hat-tricks against Durham, Watford and Doncaster Rovers Belles.

[25][26] Following the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, Reading accepted an undisclosed transfer fee from Chelsea and she completed a move in July 2015.

[28] At the 2015 FA Women's Cup Final, staged at Wembley Stadium for the first time, Kirby was a cup-tied spectator for Chelsea's 1–0 win over Notts County.

In April, she secured Chelsea's return to Wembley Stadium by scoring a late, extra-time winner against Manchester City in the FA Women's Cup semi-final.

[40] In the 2021 FA Women's League Cup final match against Bristol City W.F.C., Kirby scored two goals and created four assists as defending champions Chelsea won 6–0 at Vicarage Road.

[42][45] On 5 December, Kirby scored the opening goal in the delayed 2020–21 FA Cup final against Arsenal, helping her team lift the trophy and secure the domestic quadruple of the 2020–21 season, the first English women's club to achieve the feat.

[52] In May 2015, England manager Mark Sampson named Kirby in his final squad for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, hosted in Canada.

[54][36] Although Kirby was disappointed to be ruled out by injury from the quarter-finals onwards, England's eventual third-place finish left her with a positive overall impression of the tournament: "a fantastic experience and one I won't forget in a hurry.

[56][57] After "12 months of hell" caused by knee and ankle injuries, Kirby returned to England's line-up for UEFA Women's Euro 2017 in the Netherlands.

In post-match interviews England coach Phil Neville breathlessly proclaimed Kirby's superiority to six-time World Player of the Year Marta: "I'd take my No 10 over Brazil's No 10, that's for sure".

[65][66] In 2023, Kirby confirmed that she would miss the upcoming FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 due to requiring surgery for an ongoing knee problem.

[67] Kirby was hailed as a "stand out player" in Great Britain's gold medal-winning team at the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia.

[75] Emma Hayes, the then manager of Chelsea Women, clarified during a press conference that Kirby had been "suffering a lot with fatigue", yet the cause was unknown.